One of the women who sued Deshaun Watson for sexual misconduct has also sued Watson’s former NFL team, the Houston Texans, accusing the organization of enabling the quarterback’s behavior in massages.
The women’s attorney, Tony Busby, said in a statement Monday that Monday’s lawsuit is the first “of what is likely to be much against the Houston Texans in relation to Deshaun Watson’s conduct.” “Suffice to say, the overwhelming evidence gathered that the Houston Texans enabled Watson’s behavior is highly destructive. We think the Texans knew or certainly should have known about Watson’s behavior. Beyond that, we think the file speaks for itself.”
Watson, now a quarterback for the Cleveland Browns, recently reached a confidential settlement with 20 of the 24 women who sued him over his alleged sexual misconduct in massages in 2020 and early 2021. He faces an NFL hearing over his behavior Tuesday , which can result in a suspension of a year or more.
In this case, the plaintiff sued Watson, has not settled with him and is now suing Texas, claiming that the team was part of a civil conspiracy and failed to supervise or warn him about his behavior and tendencies.
She alleged that Watson drove about 35 minutes to her mother’s home in Manville, Texas, after asking her for a massage on Instagram in November 2020. Second encounter. The same woman tested before a grand jury in Brazoria County, Texas, in March, the second grand jury that thing not to have criminal charges.
Watson, 26, has denied any wrongdoing. Texas issued a statement on Monday.
“We are aware of the lawsuit against us today,” the statement said. “Since March 2021, we have fully supported and complied with law enforcement and various investigations. We will continue to take the necessary steps to address the allegations against our organization.”
The new lawsuit shares a different narrative.
“Texas knew or should have known that despite the vast massage and physical therapy resources available to Watson through the Texas organization, and despite repeated warnings to him from the Texas training team to use the available resources exclusively, Watson chose instead to seek out and involve his women “Massage therapy” from Instagram, away from Texas facilities,” the new lawsuit states. The facts show that Watson frequently used Texas resources for this ‘treatment’.
Those resources included rooms set up for him in a Houston hotel, massage tables provided for him for private massages, and a nondisclosure agreement form submitted to him by the head of Texas Security, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also states that Texas removed a potentially explosive Internet post detailing Watson’s behavior with another woman during a massage in 2020. Watson’s attorney, Rusty Harden, said the woman in this case improperly shared personal data about Watson via The Internet, prompting Texans to help protect Watson by providing him with a nondisclosure agreement form for use in the massage.
The lawsuit said a business that provides massage services to Texans complained to Texans that Watson was looking for unqualified strangers for massage via Instagram. The lawsuit states that the owner of this business, Genuine Touch, was also aware of what she called Watson’s “towel trick” in his massages – his insistence on using a small towel instead of the usual wrap.
“I reported this troubling fact to the Texans, who did nothing about it,” the lawsuit says.
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenburg Tweet embed. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com
